Johannesburg, Oct 14 (AP) A gunman fired on a group of mourners leaving a memorial service for a local politician in South Africa late Tuesday, killing at least two men and injuring five others, police said.
At least one of those wounded in the shooting in Katlehong township, southeast of Johannesburg, was a child, police said. They said the suspected gunman was in custody after turning himself in.
The shooting is being investigated by a political killings task team, the South African Police Service said in a statement.
Local media reported that the two victims were members of the youth league of the African National Congress party, the largest party in South Africa’s Parliament. The reports also said the memorial service they attended was for a woman who was a local ANC leader and was fatally shot this month in a killing suspected to be politically motivated.
Police did not immediately confirm the identity of the victims and only said they had attended a memorial for a “member of a political party.”
South Africa has high rates of gun crime, including shootings related to local political rivalries.
A report earlier this month by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime said there had been 43 killings in South Africa this year that were suspected to be politically motivated.
South Africa will hold local elections on Nov. 4 to decide which parties control municipal councils. (AP)
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AP Africa news: https://apnews.
(PTI News)
